Transiting The Panama Canal

(First Lock Opening)

(Crystal Photographer taking A Picture Of The Ship Getting Ready To Enter The First Lock)

(Water Being Added To Raise The Ship)

(Some On-Lookers)

(Celebrity Infinity Which Was Right Behind Us As We Transited The Canal)

(Transiting The Canal)

(David, Ricki, Chuck, Jim And Anne Marie During Last Nights Jazz Performance)

(Jim Brochu And Anne Marie)

Once again we had a wonderful time on the ship last evening.

While we dined in the Main Dining Room, in addition to being able to dine at either Prego or in Silk Road another option was casual night dining on the Lido Deck. This is typically offered twice during the cruise on the Crystal Symphony.

The attire for Prego, Silk Road and the Main Dining Room was informal. We each enjoyed a wonderful salad for dinner and we had the Broiled Fillet of Atlantic Salmon, which was accompanied, by Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, Vegetable Julienne and Honey Mustard Sauce and we also enjoyed a large bowl of steamed vegetables. We each had fruit for our dessert. The salmon entrée was just delicious as were the other items.

After dinner we listened to the Jazz performance by the Crystal Orchestra, which was wonderful and we chatted with Ricki, David, Jim, Chuck and others who were also watching the performance. These extra touches by Crystal are always wonderful.

Keith woke up early and worked out in the fitness center. For a good portion of his workout he was alone until Steve made it up there and then a little while later Roy. It was nice to get the morning workout behind him. Keith stopped by the Lido Café for coffee and spoke with Chuck for a little while before returning to the room to do some laundry and by then Anne Marie was getting ready. Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck. Afterwards, we both enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the room.

The highlight for today was the transit of the Panama Canal. This is the second time we have transited the canal and it was even more exciting this time as it was the first time. Aside from all of the challenges constructing the canal, just like the Suez Canal what is amazing is the vision that selected individuals had to build these canals in the first place. Like so many things in life, it is the vision which then turned into an idea which then becomes a plan which then gets implemented is what makes the world such an interesting place. In addition, many ideas take time to implement and many times there are major challenges and failures. That was certainly the case with the construction of both the Panama and Suez Canal. In these days of 24 hour news where people what instant results we all have to remember that great things do take time to implement and many times they are not perfect right away. To us, this is a lesson that we need to remind ourselves about.

Construction of the Panama Canal began in 1904 and finally was completed in 1914. The Canal stretches 48 miles and joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In its early years the canal was traffic to around 1,000 ships annually and more recently annual traffic totaled around 15,000 vessels.

A ship that sails from New York City to San Francisco and sails via the Panama Canal travels 5,900 miles versus a trip of 14,000 miles that would be required without the Canal.

Like the Suez Canal, the concept for this canal had a very early beginning and the first attempt to build this canal began in 1880 under the leadership of the French. The French eventually abandoned this project after almost 22,000 workers died from malaria and yellow fever and landslides.

The success of the Panama Canal is attributable to the involvement of The United States of America who initiated a second effort resulting in the opening of the Canal in 1914. During this effort there were close to 5,600 deaths. The United States controlled the Canal under its sole leadership until the 1977 treaty was executed which allowed for a transition from 1979 to 1999 at which time on December 31, 1999 the canal was transferred to the command of the Panama Canal Authority who is an agency of the Panamanian Government.

While it rained a couple of hours after we entered the canal it was a great day transiting the Panama Canal and certainly one of the highlights of the voyage.

When it started to rain we went inside and viewed the Panama Canal from the Palm Court Lounge, which provides beautiful panoramic views of both sides of the ship. We sat for most of the time with Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann. Afterwards we had lunch with the two of them along with our friend Chuck. Later on Ricki and David also sat with us and we all had a great conversation.

In the afternoon, Anne Marie enjoyed another nice long walk on the Promenade Deck and Keith played a couple of hours of Paddle Tennis and we both enjoyed the beautiful views of the Panama Canal.

This evening we will dine in Silk Road with Ernie, Debby and Philip and we’ll post about that tomorrow.

Today’s thought of the day relates to new ideas and how we all can see things a bit differently.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

Keith and Anne Marie